“It wouldn’t hurt to have the mayor in my pocket. There are still people in this parish who think that job should belong to a man. You know whatever a man does will be waved off, while Sylvie will be judged for breathing the wrong way.” Charles paced, as though warming to his own plans. “Do you think she’ll be happy living here knowing everyone is talking about her behind her back? Knowing if she hadn’t married you, she would still have a career? She would still have respect. Because I fully intend to tell her you’re the one who wouldn’t save her.”

“You’re putting me in a place where I have to choose between my mother or my wife.” He didn’t even consider his own job. In some ways it would be a relief. He might spend the rest of his days with guilt burning through him because he would have let his father down, but he could handle that shame. It was the idea of hurting the women he loved that made the bile roll in his stomach.

He had zero doubt any rumors about Sylvie were false, but rumors didn’t need truth to cause damage. Charles could make it hard for Sylvie to stay here, for him and his mother to remain in the town they’d lived in all of his life.

“Or you can show up at the party tomorrow night and explain that you married Sylvie to trick our aunt into voting for you. I don’t care if you manage to convince Sylvie to stay with you. I’m not asking you to divorce. I’m not even requiring that I be made CEO. Who knows? Our aunt works in mysterious ways. If you get elected at the end of the week, I’ll walk away and I won’t use anything I have on Sylvie. In fact, I’ll hand it all over. All my . . . what would she call it? Oppo research. I’ll give it to you so you’ll know what might come for her.”

“Sure. I’ll trust you to not go back on your word. You’ve been a snake for years.”

Charles shrugged. “I’m a snake who knows how to write a contract. I’ll sign a nondisclosure if you hold up your end. All I’m demanding is a level playing field.”

“That’s such crap, Charles. You don’t want a level playing field because if we have that, I win. That’s precisely why you found a corporate spy and started tanking this quarter’s earnings.” It was obvious this was something his cousin had been planning for a long time.